In line with Oman’s Vision 2040, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information (MTCIT) has developed a digital economy strategy to contribute to the economic diversification priority by enhancing the contribution of the ICT sector to the national economy. However, it is crucial for the country to successfully put the right enablers of the digital innovation ecosystem into all its existing and upcoming strategies to propel the vision for a digital economy in Oman.
The banking and digital finance market is a critical sector in Oman’s digital economy. Under a new regulatory framework issued by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), banks and financial institutions, including financing and leasing companies, payment service providers and money exchange companies must adhere to strict security precautions under six key pillars, namely Governance, Compliance & Audit, Technology & Operations, Third Party Supply Chain Management, Online Financial Services and Risk Management.
These regulations are all the more important given that Oman is home to major sectors like energy and natural resources, aviation, tourism and hospitality, among others. A holistic cybersecurity framework pervasive across both public and private sectors is paramount to the success of Oman’s digital transformation goals. Moreover, cyber fraud and other criminal activity is also a significant concern as Omani regulatory authorities, notably the Central Bank of Oman and the Capital Market Authority (CMA), prepare to authorize transactions involving the use of cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets for the first time.
Also Read: Vodafone Oman: Future-Ready Networks, AI-Powered Security
Oman is also building capabilities to set up cryptocurrency data mining centers. In August 2023, Oman partnered with Abu Dhabi company, Phoenix Group, to create a 150-megawatt cryptocurrency-mining farm. Additionally, the country slated the unveiling of a USD 370 million facility, managed by an international company, to commence cryptocurrency mining operations. Moreover, the Sas Center for Entrepreneurship Center under MTCIT is overseeing numerous smart city projects, incorporating the deployment of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain among others.
Cognizant of such developments in the digital landscape, the World Economic Forum recently reported that 2024 could see record-breaking data breaches and cybersecurity attacks, particularly with the rise of AI. In such a scenario, the vulnerability of critical infrastructure at risk has become a global phenomenon and Oman is no exception.
Dealing with Technology
The complexity of cloud environments and the rapid pace of change creates misconfigurations and vulnerabilities that adversaries increasingly exploit. Cloud intrusions have grown by 75% in the past year and adversaries are faster than ever, breaking into customer environments in as little as two minutes. To protect against modern cloud threats, customers need a holistic, intuitive, managed security solution that eliminates complexity and serves as a force multiplier for security and DevOps teams.
GenAI has become both a boon and a menace to the digital environment. As much as it can be creative in its output, it is equally capable of creating confusion when it comes to transparency and authenticity. Deepfakes and doctored videos are increasingly blurring the line between truth and falsehood. Hence, the automatic labeling of AI-generated or edited content for social media platforms is a much-needed solution to tackle the deluge of such content.
Social media platforms such as TikTok have already announced the testing of labeling content created with AI, including content made using their tools and others such as OpenAI’s DALL-E, Gemini, Claude and many others. The technology from the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA)—comprised of technology and media groups, led by Adobe—sets technical standards to flag and identify the source of AI-generated content. Partnering with organizations such as the C2PA to label content across platforms will help content creators to responsibly explore AI-generated content while continuing to deter harmful or misleading AI-generated content.
Oman’s Cybersecurity Efforts
Oman’s Hadatha Cybersecurity Programme is a multi-disciplinary ecosystem encompassing government, private, industry and academia that focuses on collaboration, information sharing, research and the implementation of cybersecurity innovation technologies. It aims to create an integrated cybersecurity ecosystem enabled for economic diversification, innovation, and well-being. Its mission is to facilitate, foster and enable cybersecurity innovation to enhance capabilities in the market by identifying needs and priorities in cybersecurity innovation.
Similarly, Oman Data Park (ODP), the sultanate’s first managed cloud services and cybersecurity provider, plays a crucial role in supporting Oman’s digital transformation. The company offers an all-in-one solution encompassing computing, cloud computing, data storage, networking, web hosting, and network security services. Additionally, it provides the sultanate’s first AI-ready cloud infrastructure, Nebula AI, powered by NVIDIA.
Moreover, ODP and ITHCA Group recently launched Jabreen Smart Infrastructure Solutions, debuting the sultanate’s largest cloud system that offers various integrated cloud solutions, artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, and cybersecurity solutions to the Omani market. The development follows ITHCA Group’s initial investment in attracting advanced cloud services from Oracle, paving the way for the Jabreen Project’s second phase, in the hopes of setting new standards for data and cybersecurity solutions.
The Omantel Innovation Labs leverages its expertise, network and access to a community of innovators and entrepreneurs. It provides access to community events, workshops and an accelerator programme for in-kind services and investment opportunities, with a focus on critical areas such as IoT, 5G, cybersecurity, customer experience technology and big data.
Data Protection and Cybersecurity in Oman
On 13 February 2023, Oman implemented the Royal Decree No. 6 of 2022 on the Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) of the Sultanate of Oman. The PDPL comes into effect by repealing Chapter 7 of the Electronic Transaction Law issued by Royal Decree No. 69 of 2008 and provides a more robust data protection regime and core privacy principles to align Oman’s data protection landscape with global data protection laws.
The Cyber Defence Centre is responsible for protecting Oman’s digital infrastructure, businesses and citizens from cyber threats. The center collaborates with the likes of Microsoft and Google, sharing cyber threat intelligence in real-time to pre-emptively address potential threats and further fortify the region’s security landscape. Moreover, the center’s personnel and security experts regularly engage in deep technical and cyber resilience discussions to facilitate knowledge transfer and collaborative problem-solving.
The Oman National Computer Emergency Readiness Team (OCERT), launched in 2010, is responsible for ensuring a safe cyber environment for Omani users in public and private institutions. As part of the e-Oman initiatives, OCERT plays a crucial role in fostering trust and security in the utilization of online governmental e-services. It achieves this by drafting technical recommendations and reports for network, system, and application administrators in both government and private institutions, as well as individuals. These measures aim to prevent potential attacks and safeguard the integrity of online systems and data.
Also Read: Ooredoo Oman to Land World’s Largest Subsea Cable System
In Conclusion
We have entered the 5G era and ICT is being widely used to drive industrial digitalization which is, in turn, giving rise to the digital and intelligent economy. Data plays an important role in promoting the integration of the digital economy with the real economy. Good governance allows data to effectively flow through production activities and converge with applications. This combines and links different factors of production. From 2G to 3G and then onto 4G and 5G, ICT innovation has continued to bring huge economic value to society.
Oman anticipates investments of around OMR 25 million (approximately USD 65 million) from the government and private sectors in establishing itself as a full-fledged hub for disaster recovery services. The Omani government has identified disaster recovery services as a targeted sector for development. Based on the above developments, Oman aspires to build a comprehensive cybersecurity industry, focusing on managed security services, cybercrime analysis, security incident management, and consultancy.
Notably, all leading telecom operators—Omantel, Ooredoo Oman and Vodafone Oman—have synchronized their cyber-hygiene strategies with Oman’s national cybersecurity targets. These targets are designed to foster the expansion of the digital economy and align with the objectives outlined in Oman Vision 2040.
